Author Archive
1975 Ford Mustang II Mach 1
If you give the Ford Mustang credit for anything, it should be resiliency. Introduced in 1964 as a ’65 model, the Mustang has been in continuous production ever since.
The 10 Fastest Cars of 1971*
1971 Plymouth Barracuda
Statisticians refer to groups of similar-value data points as clusters. In fact, there is a field of study known as cluster analysis, which looks to identify common threads linking cluster elements to each other.
1981 Chrevrolet Citation
It was a bold move by General Motors. In one fell swoop, GM discontinued four vehicles that had grown mostly irrelevant, and replaced them with modern, cutting-edge machines perfectly tailored to meet the expectations of a changing marketplace.
The Compact SUVs of 1987
1987 Ford Bronco II
The traditional sedan is dead. Ask any product planner at any manufacturer, and he or she will tell you just that. Toyota’s RAV4 compact crossover has been outselling the brand’s Camry sedan for a while now… and the Camry had previously been America’s most-popular vehicle (that wasn’t a full-size pickup) for many years running.
1972 Plymouth Road Runner
Per most automotive historians, the automotive Malaise Era—the period during which American carmakers built relatively low-power and rather dull vehicles—ran from 1973 through 1983.
When she was a younger woman, my mother spent some time working the register at a neighborhood Burger King. Near as I can tell, mom doesn’t spend too much time reflecting on her days peddling fast food, but she does share one story, and it’s worth retelling.
1989 Chrysler Fifth Avenue
By the time Consumer Guide’s review of the 1989 Chrysler Fifth Avenue was published in the Consumer Guide 1989 New Car Buying Guide, production of the car itself had already ended. A completely redesigned front-wheel-drive Fifth Avenue would be introduced as a 1990 model, marking the end of Chrysler’s run of rear-drive luxury and near-luxury vehicles—at least for a while. As noted in the review, there were still cars on dealer lots, but maybe not for long.
The Buicks of 1986
1986 Buick LeSabre Coupe
For Buick, 1986 was a transitional year; it was also a down year saleswise. The transition came in the form of an all-new LeSabre. For ’86 Buick’s bread-and-butter big sedans and coupes migrated to a front-drive platform, joining the higher-end Electra models that were downsized the year before.
1986 Chrysler Limousine
I was pumping gas for a living in 1986, a job that enabled me to do more than my fair share of car watching. Thus, it saddens me a little to compile this list of forgotten rides.
1986 Chevrolet Chevette
By 1986, car shoppers were looking for a little more than basic transportation. And while cheap/affordable cars were still the best-selling models, they were generally equipped with such conveniences as automatic transmission and such niceties as FM radio and air conditioning.
Classic Cars
